Talk:Union Fleet
Ok, a couple of things. One, I wouldn't mind a really abbreviated enlisted rank structure. Like: Pvt, Cpl, Sgt, Ensign. Two, I wouldn't mind non-dressy uniforms. A coverall type suit for the flight deck, the various armor (and when it gets worn), weapons (and when they get worn), camo/tactical uniforms (and when they get worn), flight suits, etc. Three, are we a totem pole in command structure or a tree? The Captain, I'm guessing, is head honcho but is Commander Al with the medical shirt going to be ordering Lt. Commander Bob with the engineering shirt around during a non-medical emergency? Four, how often are we 'off duty?' I put that in quote things 'cause I'm thinking we're always on call if not always considered on duty. Is there drinking within reason? Drug use? Five, I'm not terribly phear struck by the thought of having to play it by ear, but I don't mind rough guidelines either - even if it's just the standard 'use common sense!' 71.42.216.132 23:49, 2 January 2008 (UTC) ---- 1) It all starts at Ensign. We're not doing the enlisted ranks. It's the 41st Century. We can survive without them. So, you can be an Ensign, if you like. 2) Coverall suits are fine. They're expected in the flight deck and engineering. Fishy was toying with a design for his character, I think. 3) Armor's coming. 4) Shooty-shoots are coming, but you can expect energy pistols, tangler-style guns (in this case, probably a subduing energy field gun of some kind), and melee weapons for shipboard purposes. (The Fleet doesn't like projectile weaponry being fired inside its spaceships.) 5) The command structure is based on your department more than anything else, so the Chief Medical Officer can't boss around a subordinate weapons officer *except* in matters relating to medicine. So, it's a combination of the rank and the shirt that determines who you can tell to do what. Now, naturally, if an Ensign mouths off to a Lt. Commander in another department, the Lt. Commander can report the transgression to the Ensign's superior in the department and it'll get dealt with that way. 6) You're off duty when you're off shift. We're not on war footing right now, just alert status. So, as long as you're sober and ready to roll when the time comes, you're golden. (There is drinking and there's probably some drug use. However, medications in the 41st Century will allow some fun things - like eliminating the effects of drugs on short notice or, if you're sleep deprived, giving you a boost to make the lack of sleep meaningless. Of course, these can cause other problems long-term, but that's always fun.) --Stamp 13:35, 2 January 2008 (UTC) ---- 1) I'm dubious but ok. I'd really rather have the three enlisted ranks that led up to ensign for non-academy sorts or something, but it's all good if there are at least NPC enlisted types. (edit) Even M*A*S*H had Radar and Clinger. (re-re-re-edit) 2) Cool. 3/4) I wasn't too worried about them not existing. I was more asking about IC guidelines. In other words, are people going to wander around loaded for bear all the time in the event of an event or are most people going to be wearing the blues and multi-colored shirt besides when they're actually engaged in something like training or a mission. Also, is it going to be standard to carry maybe a pistol or is it going to standard to tote a kitchen sink, samurai sword, chain gun, can of hairspry, etc. 5) Cool. (Edit: Actually, just cool.) 6) Cool.71.42.216.132 23:49, 2 January 2008 (UTC) ---- I've got a description for the coverall written. I'll post it somewhere soon. Fishbreath 21:56, 2 January 2008 (UTC) ---- Quick and easy protocol suggestion: Sir, ma'am, (rank, rank last name if you're feeling your oats) when out ranked by who you are addressing. Last name, rank last name when out ranking the person you are addressing. None of this civy, wishy washy, mister, miss, mrs, stuff. Then, in the case of juniors using a senior's rank they would only use the body of the rank, ignoring the junior grade/lt parts. A superior would normally do the same unless they want it made clear that they outrank the fool causing them to waste their words by identify the entire rank. 71.42.216.132 23:49, 2 January 2008 (UTC) ---- I got no idea how militaryish we want to be, but here's some ideas. 1) The mess hall officer protocol. Call attention when Clement walks in. People sit at the position of attention, stop eating. Clement mumbles carry on, people return to eating. Standing people stand at attention (unless, you know, holding a tray in which case they fake the funk). 2) CQ protocol. Call attention. Person who called it salutes Clement, rest stand at attention (unless sleeping in bunks), mumbled carry on, salute return, people return to slacking. 3) Bridge, captain on deck, duty officer (unless, you know, frantically working) salutes but the rest continue business as normal. 4) Other 'work areas' basically the same as the bridge. 5) Don't wiki stuff mid-scene, Mouse, you moron. 6) In formations, the dude/dudette in charge of formation handles the salutes. UrfOttoMouse 00:44, 4 January 2008 (UTC) ---- So, you joined the military, but you, the player, has no idea what's going on. This is the product of like ten, fifteen minutes. Feel free to edit, change, suggest, modify, disregard completely. Ok, first, there are two rank structures. This isn't a big deal on OS:M for the Union Fleet. Just assume that as an officer, you outrank an enlisted soldier. Score one for the good guys. The officer rank structure goes: ensign (peon, assume this is the first cruise with 'nominal' authority), lt jr grade (less peony, probably not lost in the sauce), lt (probably been around the service for a few years, don't get lost on the way to the washroom), lt. commander (been there, done that, knows what time chow is served), commander (decides what time chow is served), and captain (decides what is for chow and assigns people to serve it). The admirals, well, who really cares? We won't be meeting those morons! I mean intrepid leaders. Ok, now, you know where you fit it. The Union Fleet has nifty 'tunics.' These are so people can see who is working and who is slacking. If you see a bunch of Red tunics around, you know that there is an inspection or something, and you know to turn the other way. Red tunics mean command. Command means the people who coordinate the rainbow of other tunics to keep things running smoothly. They are the brain, and they are the people that assign you, a working part of the body, a lot of onerous duties. Get friendly with them to get the cush jobs and to know what's going on. White are the medical staff. Apparently, they're supposed to keep you alive until your death becomes more cost effective. Get friendly with them because they have all the best drugs. Green are the communcications people. They're in charge of commo and probably various computers and interception devices. They probably entertain themselves by playing the 4k version of Wii when no one is watching. They have the computer knowhow to make your records change if you piss them off. Brown is engineering. If your toaster breaks, go complain to them. They're the hardware people. If you piss them off, expect your coffin to get shlepped off into space near a blackhole due to some system glitch. Orange is flight operations. They fly things and keep giant ships from running into each other. There's really no reason to be on their good side unless they fly support for your operations or do milk runs. Otherwise, though, there isn't much that pissing them off can do to you. Gray is habitation. They're in charge of everything from where you sleep to what you eat to what sort of supplies get brought on board. Think of them as the grocery store/janitor/mall all wrapped into one, giant, labyrinthine unit. Gold is security. Gold, obviously, is the most worthwhile thing around. Gold medals, gold rings, gold. It's important. Give these people a break, or they will break you. As a rule, people can only tell people with the same taste in tunic colors what to do. If you have a problem with someone outside your sphere, you get to either A) Complain to their boss. B) Complain to the man in red (who will think you are a whiner and not capable of solving your own problems). You do, however, have to show respect to anyone who ranks over you. You do this by rendering the tried and true hand salute. This is done by raising the right hand to the outside corner of your right eyebrow (or approximation thereof) and canting the hand so neither the top nor bottom is really visible. You salute those who out rank you. You return the salute of those who do not. To hurry up the process, you really only need to salute when you are going to talk to someone or passing within close proximity. The other person is expected to return the salute, but don't let waiting for that to happen keep you from doing what you need to do. Superior officers are often busy with their heads in the metaphorical clouds, so if they fail to exactly follow protocol, it's nothing you need to worry about. There's no reason to go into detail about how to stand at attention or parade rest. You can do a google search for drill and ceremony if you want to get real anal. Typically, though, you stand at attention when addressing someone who out ranks you if you're enlisted. If you're an officer, things are a bit faster and looser. A superior officer, if he or she wanted to, could call someone by first name. Normally, though, they go by rank or rank last name. Addressing superior officers, the subordinate generally uses sir or ma'am. If they get really uppity, they could use the rank, but normally sir or ma'am suffices. When referring to them to a third person, they use the rank and last name. UrfOttoMouse 23:29, 11 January 2008 (UTC) ----